Street lights came on almost simultaneously with my passing them. Finny had sounded frightened over the phone, and urgent. Whatever he needed, it was bound to be important.
I raced up the steps in front of his house, and punched in the access code so quickly that I made a mistake the first time and had to enter it again.
Without a word to his mother, who was God-knows-where, I stormed up Phineas' flight of stairs leading to his bedroom. "Don't worry!" I called to him, rounding the corner. "I'm coming, Finny!"
I nearly broke the door off of its hinges, trying to get it open. It slammed into the wall when I slung it open. Finny lay on the bed, his broken leg propped up on a couple of pillows. He gave an incredulous look to my weathered and out-of-breath state while I stood before him panting, and demanding what I could do for him.
Finally, he regained his usual composure. "Gene, buddy! I'm glad you're here!" he exclaimed, clasping his hands together, smiling. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind grabbin' me a soda from the fridge?"
I was ready to strangle him, but settled for collapsing on the floor beside his bed. "Do you mean to tell me," I said, slowly, "that you called me up, made me run all the way down to your house, scared me half to death--all for a freakin' soda?"
"Well, I tried paging Mom, but she must've turned her beeper off or something because--" he started to say.
"No, Phineas," I said, sternly. "You just had the perverted idea to make me run all this way, and neglect my homework just for your entertainment. If you plan on doing this kind of crap, then I strongly suggest you find a new buddy to play puppeteer with, because I WILL NOT be your puppet!"
He looked like he might giggle.
I probably looked ridiculously serious, because I was trying very hard to maintain my grown-up, in-charge facade, while staring at the growing smile on his face.
"If you say so, Gene, my little Pinocchio," he said with a chuckle.
I couldn't stop the smile from crossing my face. I sighed. "Finny, what are we going to do with you?"
He winked at me. "I think the question is, what would you do without me?"